JGB yields rise to multi-year highs as markets weigh US tariffs

By Brigid Riley

TOKYO, Feb 4 (Reuters) - Japanese government bond (JGB) yields rose to multi-year highs on Tuesday alongside U.S. Treasury yields as investors continued to weigh the impact of U.S. tariffs while eyeing the Bank of Japan's rate path outlook.

The 10-year JGB yield touched a 14-year peak of 1.27%, while 10-year JGB futures fell 0.21 points to 140.54 yen.

JGB yields followed U.S. Treasury yields higher, with ten-year U.S. Treasury yields hovering around 4.57% during Asian hours.

U.S. President Donald Trump suspended his threat of steep tariffs on Mexico and Canada on Monday, agreeing to a 30-day pause to negotiate with the two trade partners.

Trump's additional 10% tariff across all Chinese imports into the U.S. came into effect at 12:01 a.m. ET on Tuesday (0501 GMT), spurring a tit-for-tat from China.

Elsewhere, BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda reiterated on Tuesday the central bank will aim to achieve 2% inflation on a sustained basis.

Markets are eyeing the BOJ's July meeting as the next possible time for it to raise interest rates.

There is a strong consensus in the market that the BOJ will raise rates every six months to around 1%, a view that has more or less been completely factored in, Nomura's chief macro strategist Naka Matsuzawa said.

The Japan policy rate stands at 0.5% after the BOJ hiked rates last month.

BOJ policymakers have been reluctant to give guidance about the terminal rate, but "at some point before they even get to 1%, they have to start communicating with the market", Matsuzawa said.

The two-year JGB yield sat 1.5 basis points higher at 0.735%, having briefly touched its highest since October 2008 at 0.74%.

The five-year yield rose 3 bps to 0.925%, a level last seen in November 2008.

The 20-year JGB yield also climbed 3 bps to 1.985%. The 30-year JGB yield ticked up 2.5 bps to 2.325%.

(Reporting by Brigid Riley; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)